A soldier from Tilehurst is taking part in a tough military exercise on the prairies of Canada for her upcoming mission in Afghanistan.

Army mechanic Lance Corporal Carrie Allen, 20, of German-based 2 (Close Support) Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, has endured a variety of extreme weather conditions during three months of Exercise Prairie Thunder.

Her skills have been greatly tested especially during a storm when many of the heavily armoured transport vehicles became bogged in mud and then had to be recovered and cleaned up. The exercise is taking place at the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) located in the heart of the vast plains of Alberta in Western Canada.

Former Little Heath School student Carrie has joined nearly 2,500 British servicemen and women living and sleeping on the prairie to prepare for deployment to Afghanistan next year.

The whole exercise is based on a fictional scenario to prepare soldiers for operational duty where they have been tasked with patrolling villages, dealing with insurgents and interacting with locals.

Some Afghani actors who live locally in Canada have been employed to provide a realistic setting in specially mocked up villages, complete with shops, restaurants and schools. And British soldiers – not part of the main Battle Group – also take on the role of locals to provide a realistic setting to learn about the kind of environment they may have to work in on operations.

Carrie, who joined the army in 2005 and has previously served in Kuwait, said: “I’m part of a forward repair team with the Battle Group, permanently based in the field on the front lines, so we have to keep up our soldiering skills as well.

“I fix broken-down vehicles such as the Challenger tanks – it’s tough, with the weather and the hard off-road ground the vehicles almost need constant attention.

“This work needs experience but it gets easier, the big beasts actually suffer from the same kinds of problems as normal road cars such as oil leaks and overheating, but just on a much larger scale.”

The soldiers also train on a state of the art computer system which records every detail of an attack, showing simulated injuries, and anyone designated a casualty has to be extracted by their comrades.

Carrie and her colleagues sleep in sleeping bags and ponchos, sometimes using their military vehicles to protect them against the harsh elements with nothing but their ration packs to sustain them.

She said: “I’m the only girl in my company, it’s a man’s world, but you get used to it, it doesn’t make any difference.

“I know that I will be going to Afghanistan next year and I’m looking forward to it, it’s what we all signed up for, but I’ll probably get nervous the closer I get to the tour.

“I love being here in Canada; I have been to the local town Medicine Hat with some of my mates which was a lot of fun. When I finish the exercise I will get some leave so intend to see Calgary. I will also do some horse riding in the Canadian Rockies.”

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Biggart, officer commanding the Battle Group, added of the “testing” but “valuable” training: “We have learnt a huge amount and it has set us up extremely well for our Afghan mission specific training.”